Living Hell by Catherine Jinks Read Free Book Online Page B

said softly.
    ‘Your mother will be in the next seat. On the end.’
    So there was a bit of a reshuffle, as my mother explored her own chair, looking for somewhere safe to put her Medkit. She finally stuffed it behind a snap-lock hatch under the armrest.
    ‘ Attention. This is a red alert. Please lock down and brace. All crew stand by for impact.
    ’ ‘I wish they wouldn’t keep saying that,’ Sadira complained, securing her own Medkit. ‘It just makes everyone nervous.’
    Sloan caught my eye, and winked.
    ‘Can we have a drink before we seal up?’ I asked my mother.
    ‘All right. Be quick, though.’
    ‘I bet everyone could do with a shot of brandy,’ Sadira remarked, and I wondered how she was going to fit all that rippling, bouncy black hair into her headpiece. It astonished me that she hadn’t already pinned it up – though when I gave it some thought, I realised that I never had seen Sadira’s hair pinned up. Ever. ‘Failing that,’ she went on, ‘perhaps a good, strong coffee.’
    ‘Ha-ha,’ said my mother. ‘Richsip only , please, Cheney.
    It’s the best thing.’
    ‘All right.’ Richsip, the fortified water that we were supposed to drink most of the time, wasn’t exactly my favourite. But I did what I was told. It never even crossed my mind that, for my last ever drink, I deserved something tasty.
    I suppose the happy gas was blocking out thoughts of that kind.
    Hovering at the food dispenser, watching my dad peering at a subatomic model from every possible angle, I wasn’t thinking about how much I loved him. I was wondering if the construct in front of him was an anti-hydrogen atom: were those positrons orbiting antiprotons? I couldn’t tell. I didn’t know enough. I didn’t understand the colour coding.
    Merrit would have known, I felt sure. She was so brilliant.
    ‘ Attention. This is a red alert. Please lock down and brace. All crew prepare for impact in E minus fifteen minutes.
    ’ Fifteen minutes! That gave me a shock. Where on earth had the time gone? My father raised his head suddenly.
    ‘Lockdown,’ he ordered, just as Firminus said the same thing: ‘Lockdown!’
    Dad began to pace around the room, scanning the Array. He stopped behind Arkwright, and squeezed his shoulder.
    ‘Locking down periphery circuits,’ said Arkwright.
    ‘And . . . conversion clamps.’
    ‘Lockdown on photovoltaic arrays,’ Haido announced.
    ‘Confirmation through from TFP,’ said Lais. ‘Lockdown on all remote access systems. Lockdown on alpha rotary joint.’
    ‘Lockdown on docking bay.’
    The noise level rose. Mum beckoned to me. ‘Come here,’ she said. When I reached her, she jerked my mask down over my face, and sealed it. ‘C heney 704, linkup .’ I could see her mouthing the words, before her code beeped on my voice patch. I gave her a clear to receive.
    ‘ How does that feel? ’ she asked. It was odd; her question came through my transmitter just a fraction after she uttered it, like an echo of the faint, muffled noise that I could still hear through the insulation of my headpiece. The effect was disconcerting.
    ‘Okay,’ I replied. It had always surprised me, during our safety drills, that I didn’t feel suffocated inside my pressure suit. This time, I was surprised all over again. The cooling system worked wonderfully. ‘It feels fine.’
    ‘ Tell me if you think something’s wrong .’
    Sloan, meanwhile, was dragging on his glove assemblies. I buckled myself in, then followed suit. Sadira collapsed onto a chair. She twisted her hair up, spearing it with a single clip, as the lockdown reports continued. My mother did a last circuit of the compartment, reminding people to seal their suits, before returning to her own seat. There followed a series of checks: multispectral scanners – check; Pho-Cat sensors – check; Orbital Manoeuvring System – check. Over where Firminus stood, a sudden flurry of activity followed his command to lock down engines. My stomach seemed